The Visitors
by gruesome-daath
Summary: Taki and her apprentice try to take Soul Edge from Heihachi, but fail. As a result, they have been sucked into a mysterious vortex, taking them to 21st century Tokyo. How can two ninjas survive in a completely different world?


The Visitors

Chapter 1: Fast Forward 400 Years

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A slight breeze chilled the morning air; winter was upon us. The villages we had passed on our way to Edo had already finished planting their crops, ready to be sown over the coming spring. They were right on time, but we were already too late.

            Shino, my young apprentice looked eagerly into the open. Wondering samurai filled the streets like beggars. Rich beggars. Even when they are broke, they held their heads high, boasting of their great lineage while at the same time starving to death. I should have smiled; it was we ninjas who slew their Mistresss and put them out of a job and into the streets. 

            'Where is he?' Shino asked behind me, but I clenched a fist, prompting the young ninja to silence. She slumped deeper into the shrubs, hiding herself from sight. She's not a bad girl, stubborn, but not bad at all. In fact, she reminds me of what I was like when I was younger. I, the arrogant trainee, and Toki the great and wise teacher. How things have changed since then.

            It was as expected, an old man passing along the road with nothing but the clothes on his back, and a pouch full of shards. How this man have overcome so many powerful warriors with his bare hands, I will never understand. He is proud, like samurai, yet he fights without a sword. I've only recently heard of this technique… this Karate, being developed somewhere in the southern Ryuuku islands. But it was still in the early stages of development. This man fought like he had been training all his life, the technique refined through the generations. This couldn't be so. 

            'Mistress Taki,' Shino whispered into my ear.

            'Silence,' I ordered her.

She refused, tapping my shoulder more urgently. 'Mistress Taki, we should move now. If he passes through the checkpoint, it will be hard for us to catch up to him later on. There are plenty of Samurai roaming through the next forest, and they come from the Iozaki clan.' 

I frowned at this. It had been less than a month since we killed their Lord. His samurai would be more than happy to avenge their Mistress's death by killing two Fuuma ninja. Shino was right. We had to move now.' I managed a quick nod to Shino. She managed a quick nod back, before she moved silently, disappearing into the bushes. Slowly, I crept forward, careful not to make a sound. My only chance at retrieving the pouch full of Soul Edge shards depended on this. Slowly, but surely, I made my way to the edge of the road. I just hoped that Shino remembered what I told her.

            All of a sudden, our plan came into to action as the young ninja girl leapt from the bushes, slitting the throat of two unsuspecting samurai with her short sword. The remaining people in the street turned to her in shock. That was my que. I quickly ran behind another samurai, drawing Rekki Maru from its hilt and thrust it forward, straight through the samurai's neck. All he managed was a disgusted gargle before he fell to his face in the dirt road. 

            The old man had noticed us, and yet he wasn't running away. By the look on his face, it was as if he was glad to see us, it was as if he was expecting us. 'Ninja,' he scoffed, turning his sights to Shino, 'Fuuma ninja.' A swarm of samurai rushed to his side, but he quickly brushed them back, as if he wanted to fight both Shino and me. He smirked as he reached into his pocket and revealed a pouch. 'Is this what you want?'

            I quickly dashed to Shino's side, fearing that her eagerness might get the better of her, but she just stood her ground, her hands reaching for her swords. 

            Heihachi slowly balled his palms into fists and readied himself in a fighting stance. 'Give me your best shot!' he sniggered. I studied him closer. There was no way I was going to underestimate this man, not after he had defeated so many warriors with only his fists. 

            That was when I saw them, wrapped around his wrists. Metal wrist guards. That explains how he can guard himself against blades. I smirked as I drew both my swords and looked over my shoulder to my apprentice. 'Shino, I just want you to watch.'

            'But Mistress,' she began with an anxious look in her eyes, 'we've been discovered, we must flee.'

            A grunt escaped Heihachi's throat as he turned to her. 'For once in your life, ninja… fight with honour.'

            My eyes narrowed to a squint. 'We intend to kill.' With that, I ran towards him with Mekki Mari and Rekki Maru readied. 

            Suddenly, he leapt forward, turning around thrusting his foot forward. I managed to dodge it to the side, and thrust both blades, aimed at his open flesh at his abdomen. His hand quickly swiped the blades away, thrusting his other fist to my head. His fist found only empty air as I managed stretch back, while at the same time, raising my right foot, catching him square in the jaw. Taking the advantage, I took Mekki Maru and thrust it towards his face…

            … but it stopped, just in front of his eyes. I tensed, trying to push the blade forward, but he just held it there, clamped between his fists. He looked at me with a smirk on his face. 'You are weak, ninja…' He moved to quickly for me to see it, but I soon felt it, the crushing blow of his fist driving the wind out from my stomach. The blow was so strong that it sent me flying backwards, crashing into the dirt road. As I painfully pushed myself up, I came to realise that I no longer had Mekki Maru. He held the blade proudly in his hand. He scoffed at me as he reached into his pocket, producing a glowing pouch. Suddenly, Mekki Maru began to resonate with the same evil aura, as if beckoning to return with its own kind. 

The sky had turned black with storm clouds, with lightning arcing across the sky. He raised the pouch and sword high into the air and began to laugh maniacally. 'You're too late!' he screamed. 'You're all too late!' His piercing laughter grew with the howling winds, sending a cold shiver down my spine. What he said was true: we were all too late.

            All of a sudden, the ground opened up beneath us. I managed to jump up, dropping Rekki Maru to grab hold of a branch. I quickly looked down and froze. The crack ran across the entire road, gaping open to swallow them all. The sound of screams filled the air as they fell into the deep chasm. The opening then began to grow, stretching beyond the road and to the trees. I knew I had to get out quick, I knew I had to leave both my blades. But then I heard something else. Screaming. It was Shino. I watched in horror as my young apprentice fell helplessly into the gaping maw of the abyss, disappearing into the shadows. I couldn't leave her behind. Anything else I wouldn't have thought twice to abandon, but not her. Not Shino.

            Cursing myself for getting into this mess, I let go of the branch and leapt into the chasm.

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            'Mistress, Mistress Taki!' I recognised the voice as Shino's, but my head throbbed painfully. I must have hit something hard when I fell. Cracking an eye open, the first thing I saw was Shino's smiling face. 'Mistress Taki, are you alright?'

            'I'm fine,' I lied, stifling a scream as I painfully sat up, my stomach still ached from Heihachi's blow. Shino must have noticed me squint as she quickly dashed to my aid, supporting my back as I pushed myself off the floor. 'Thank you, Shino.'

            At this, she smiled, bowing deeply. The young apprentice then reached behind her and presented something to me. The familiar blade glimmered with the morning light. It was Rekki Maru. 'You dropped this,' she said, offering it to me.

            I cracked a smile as I took the sword and stared at it momentarily. It seemed awkward, holding it by itself, without Mekki Maru at its side. It's evil twin was gone, taken by Heihachi. That name by itself made my blood boil, and the fact that he managed to beat me barehanded infuriated me. I quickly sheathed the sword and turned to Shino with a determined gaze. 'Let's get out of here…'

            'But,' she began, 'where is "here"?' I stopped, looking around myself. Suddenly I found my jaw hanging open. She was right. This was no longer a farming village in the outskirts of Edo. A foul smelling wind blew into our faces as I scanned the horizon. I was standing upon the rooftop of a weird looking castle, spiralling high above the ground. In fact, everything looked different, everything sounded different. Everything was different.

            Slowly, I moved to the rooftop's edge and peered over the side. People, more people than I have seen in my entire life lined the streets below. And monsters, yellow carts moved hurriedly at their sides. The air was filled with kinds of unfamiliar sounds. Blaring, hissing, roaring. What was going on? Where am I? Frightened, I stepped back from the edge and turned to the sky. It looked the same, but there was something else. A giant iron bird flew overhead, roaring with the intensity of a hundred jaguars. 

            Iron birds, steel horseless carts, gigantic castles. We were no longer in Edo. Just where the hell are we

            'Mistress Taki?' Shino said behind me, her hand falling on my shoulder. I turned to her, finding a frightened girl staring back at me, her hands trembling at her side. 'Mistress Taki…' she began, her voice shuddering, 'I'm… I'm scared…'

            I quickly wrapped my arms around the trembling girl, I myself frightened of my surroundings. But I tried to show solidarity, running my fingers through the girl's hair as I kissed her forehead. 'It's alright, Shino. We'll be alright… we'll be alright…'

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            My first instinct was to find a place to hide. But where? This place was a concrete jungle, as far as the eye can see. We tried to keep as far away from the people on the streets beneath us as we jumped from rooftop to rooftop. A few hours ago, I planned to run until we found the forest. But that was a few hours ago, and more than a hundred rooftops before we realised the futility of it all. Now we needed a place to hide, a place to stay. I can feel my stomach growling as it yearned for food. I was almost exhausted, and I knew that Shino was near collapse. 

            Suddenly, I noticed something from the corner of my eye: an open window. 'There!' I pointed out to Shino as we landed on a nearby rooftop. It was a few feet down. There was no other way of reaching it other than jumping from where we stood. The opening was narrow, and the drop was too long. We had to make it. We just had to. 

            'I'll go first,' I told her, taking a few steps back. Even for me, it would take an extraordinary effort to reach the distance. With my aching muscles and an empty stomach, I wasn't sure I'd make it. But we had nothing to lose. We were near starving, and near exhaustion. This was our only choice. Jump or die.

            I took a final look at Shino and smiled. 'Remember, shift your weight forward as far as you can.' She nodded, stepping back to make way for me as I readied myself for the jump. 'Okay,' I told myself as I focused on the jump, 'you can do this… you can do this.' I took another deep breath then looked up, sprinting forward. I coiled back as I reached the edge, jumping with all my might. I had flung myself further than I have ever done before. But was it enough. As I began to fall, I reached forward. My fingers quickly found the ledge, abruptly halting my descent. I painfully bit my lips as the strain on my elbows got to me, but slowly, gradually; I pulled myself up, onto the opening and looked back. I really did make it. Now it was Shino's turn. From a distance, I saw her nod to me as she stepped back, readying herself for the jump.

            'Hey Talim, did you hear something?' a voice called out from behind me. I was discovered. Suddenly, a door opened behind me, where two teenagers emerged, looking at me blankly. The elder boy stepped back, grabbing the younger girl by shoulder and pulled her back. 'Who- who are you?'

            Before I can answer, I heard a scream from behind me. I quickly looked back, and to my horror, found Shino hurtling through the air. She was going to make it. I quickly stretched my arms out, but I should have known better. The girl had leapt further than me… much further. She crashed through the window, knocking me to the floor as she fell into me. We both collapsed onto the floor. Shino didn't move. I couldn't move. All I can manage was to open my eyes and watch as the two teenagers walk over our bodies, staring at us with bewilderment. This too began to fade as I felt my strength leave me and allow the darkness to slowly overcome us both.

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            'What are you doing?' a girl's voice shrieked as I felt a wet cloth fall on my forehead. Slowly, my eyes peered open and found the boy looking at me, smiling. The younger girl quickly rushed to his side and pushed him away. 'Get away from her, Yun! We don't even know who they are.'

            'Well,' he began, placing a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder, 'I know what they are… they're cosplayers!' 

            'Cosplayers?' Talim brushed his hand aside and reached for something. My sheath. Slowly, she drew Rekki Maru and pointed it to the boy. 'These things are sharp. It's real. You can kill someone with this.'

            'Be careful with that, Talim!' He grabbed the blade and returned it to its sheath. 'Okay, do you think real people would go around wearing this?

            'No,' Talim began, her voice unconvinced. 'But do you think real people go around, carrying real swords?'

            'They're not real swords!'

            'They are real swords!' I asserted. Both teenagers shirked back. Probably they weren't expecting me to be awake. I slowly, pushed myself from the futon and looked around. 'Shino, where is she?'

            The frightened teens stepped back, with Talim hiding behind Yun. 'She's resting… in Talim's room,' said the boy. 'She was hurt pretty badly… what were you doing jumping off rooftops anyway?'

            I didn't answer as I looked around. This bedroom seemed normal, or most of it anyway. It had tatami mats, a futon and a side table. But the rest was foreign. It was like a world between the one we knew just yesterday, and the one we saw today. I looked back at the two youngsters and smiled. 'Thank you, for helping us.'

            Slowly, the girl moved from behind the boy and looked at me curiously. 'Um… excuse me… but… what's your name?'

            'Err… I'm Taki.'

            'Oh!' she gasped, her eyes widening, 'so where are you from, Taki?'

            'I come from the Fuuma village of Nazame, east of the Irozawa River.'

            Both teens raised an awkward eyebrow. 'Fuuma… Village? Is that in Tokyo?'

            'No… uh, how about here. Where is this place?'

            'Oh!' began the girl, 'this is our apartment. Yunsung and mine that is…'

            I shook my head. 'No… what is the name of this village?'

            'Village?' she repeated with undertones of confusion. 'This is Tokyo… you know… Tokyo. The second largest city in Japan, the capital of Japan…'

            'What?' I stammered. 'The capital of Japan is in Osaka.'

            Suddenly the boy stepped closer to me, looking at me curiously. 'No… it's Tokyo. Osaka stopped being the capital more that one and a half century ago…' he paused with and looked at me gravely. 'Just what year is it?'

            'I don't have time for games,' 

            'Just answer the question!' he demanded. 

            'Fine!' I snorted. 'It's the third year of the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate… but the Portugese traders call it 1603… are you satisfied.'

            That was needless, by the horrified look on his face, I can tell that something was wrong. I noticed his hand began to tremble as he gulped heavily, looking at me with an ominous gaze. 'The year is 2004. It's been… more than 400 years since Tokugawa took government.'

            My heart fell in my chest. There was no way this could be true. It was impossible. It had to be. There was no way this can happen. And yet I knew in my heart that it was true. What the boy had said was true. I am still in Japan, only 400 years into the future.

            I felt sick…


End file.
